Technical Field
This disclosure relates to a connection unit for a fluid-cooled cable, and additionally relates to a system composed of a plug-in connector, a fluid-cooled cable and a connection unit.
Description of the Related Art
Fluid-cooled cables are employed, in particular, to carry high currents, and are used, for example, for connecting charging plug-in connectors.
In the case of electric vehicles, there is a need for rapid charging of the battery, if this technology is to prevail over conventional vehicles that have an internal combustion engine. The vehicles having an internal combustion engine can have their fuel tanks filled up completely within a few minutes. Electric vehicles must be able to compete with this. For rapid charging operations, particularly high currents must be used, resulting in a large amount of heat being produced in the charging plug-in connectors.
In the case of so-called active cooling, the fluid-cooled cooled cables must be connected to a cooling unit, in which the cooling fluid, heated by a charging plug-in connector, is cooled down again, or conditioned. At the same time, the fluid-cooled cable must be supplied with electric current and connected accordingly. The connecting of such a cooled cable is complex and time-consuming.
DE 2010 050 562 B3 shows a charging plug-in connector for electric vehicles. The heating of the plug-in connector that is generated during the charging operation is reduced by a spiral-shaped fluid line, which runs substantially in the handle region of the plug-in connector. A cooling fluid flows, in a closed cooling circuit, through the fluid line. The fluid line runs parallel to the electric cable. Thus, the electric cable and the cooling fluid line must be connected separately. The cooling of the cable by a cooling fluid line that is routed in parallel is not very effective. Moreover, such a structure is not space-saving, which may result in problems, particularly in the confined area of a filling station.